Modem-Art to Offer Programmable 3G Processor

Modem-Art has announced the launch of a new W-CDMA programmable baseband processor - the MA1000. The MA1000 will facilitate manufacturers wishing to enter the 3G market while preserving their extensive investment in testing and certification processes for their popular GSM/GPRS designs. The MA1000 processor can serve as a 3G W-CDMA add-on to their legacy terminal design.

The MA1000 product is built around the PME (Programmable Modem Engine), Modem-Art's core technology. The PME is a powerful physical layer processor optimized for W-CDMA modem implementation. The PME's multiprocessing architecture enables a rapid realization of 3GPP standard releases. As the 3GPP standard evolves, future updates by software upgrades of the MA1000 displace the need for hardware modifications. This reduces time to market and improves reliability of MA1000 based handsets. The MA1000, today, offers the most advanced features of the 3GPP standard and is fully compliant with 384 kbps class of Release 99 and Release 4. The result is a baseband processor with rich system functionality, high level of programmability, flexibility and low-power consumption that facilitates a smooth transition to commercial 3G terminals.

"The availability of Modem-Art MA1000 programmable baseband processor will accelerate the introduction of new 3G W-CDMA handsets" comments Dr. Yossi Kofman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Modem-Art. "The combination of a feature rich software solution, which supports Release 4, and the MA1000's low power consumption enables handset manufacturers to progress from the current prototyping stage to a more rapid introduction of commercial 3G handsets." The MA1000 has been integrated with Philips Nexperia GSM/GPRS baseband processor and multi-mode UMTS/GSM/GPRS RF circuitry. 3G multi-mode handset reference design will be made available later this year. "

Posted to the site on 12th February 2003